Matahati Ming Furniture
4 August 2010
“The Second Time Around”
What most attracted me to this particular manufacturer and designer of fine furniture is the item at the top of this blog. When I first saw it, I thought it was a built-in vanity, but it is actually somewhat better than that for those who would elect to take that particular course. It is an item in Matahati’s Ming Furniture Line, which means that it is possible for those who so desire to furnish a bedroom and bathroom in this motif. The furniture line itself is so named because it was inspired by antique Ming furniture adorned with the “bingzhanwengui” pattern, which in Chinese means cracked ice. The distinctive cracked ice (my spell checker likes the English translation better!) pattern is made up of thin slats of reclaimed teak which have been joined together to make intricate patterns contained within a wooden frame. It’s an absolutely glorious motif, though, one that adds considerably to the style of the line itself, and I downloaded a number of examples.
Matahati is actually located in two worlds. They do much of their manufacturing in Indonesia, but have their showroom in Paris, France. Matahati, eye of the heart, has been working with Indonesia since 1990, a 20 year collaborative affair between their Madurese partner and specialized artisans. What they have endeavored to accomplish with their pricing is to establish a mutual process which takes into account the necessity to pay well for quality work.
Another thing I find myself liking about Matahati is their use of products that are genuinely ecologically sound. Palm wood, which is used in some of their furniture, is not actually wood at all, but a fibrous plant, but in the sure hands of the artisans at Matahati, these fibers give this material its beauty. To better illustrate the product, I downloaded a picture of their Palm table with a mosaic top. Interestingly enough, Palm was often used during the 1930′s by a fair number of art deco designers, so it’s the old made new again. And that is not the only old they make new.
The other primary product Matahati uses in their furniture lines carries with it both ecological benefits and a certain amount of genius, I guess. They use reclaimed teak, and I’ve included a picture of it here so you can see th
e sorry-looking stuff with which they begin their miracles. But, note, please, that I did not say the product itself is less than good, because it most assuredly is very high grade indeed. I said that it looks bad. But that is only an appearance; the truth is that it’s better than new. It’s because of a secret.
I have had occasion to use reclaimed wood myself, some redwood for a bench I made. Well, as it turned out, those particular broad redwood slabs could not be used in that particular project, so even though I’d tooled the wood, I had no choice but to simply set it aside. In fact at the time, I thought so little of the wood, because of some mistakes I’d made, that I left it to the tender mercies of the outdoors where it sat for several years. Later I decided to use it for some picture framing projects, and that redwood, now completely cured, made exquisite projects. That’s the secret about reclaimed wood. Fell a tree, take it to the lumber mill, run it through the milling process and ship it out to the lumber yards. It’s a process that goes rather quickly, and because it does, that wood tends to arrive at its final destination, the workshop of the artisan who will give it its final shape, rather quickly. And that, in turn, means that there is quite a bit of moisture in that wood, thus causing warping and the like. I once cut a most sound looking board down the middle and watched it warp in front of my eyes! One solution is to buy the wood early and let it acclimate to the shop, which does help, but it normally sits around for a few weeks at best. When it is possible to do so, reclamation solves two problems.
What happens in our throw-away world is that the wood for just about anything you can imagine has a certain lifetime. Heirlooms have an indefinite life, of course, but very little wooden furniture will fall into that category. For the rest, when the piece gets a broken drawer runner or goes out of style, it’s off to the landfill. And that’s why the reclaimed teak in this picture looks so wretched, but as it turns out, ugly is like beauty. It’s skin deep.
The teak in our picture has had a chance to cure, not just for weeks, but for years, probably decades. Now all one does is mill it, and what’s left produces terrific furniture. The wood won’t warp; it mills true, and it often has a wonderful patina that one simply does not find in new-cut wood. And it means, too, that what anyone else would view as simple trash has been put to glorious use. Love is not the only thing that’s lovelier the second time around.
Joseph
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6 Responses to “Matahati Ming Furniture”
August 4th, 2010 at 8:45 AM
It looks like beautiful furniture. I just hope the folks back in Indonesia are actually making money for their artistry.
Kat
August 4th, 2010 at 9:33 AM
Interesting designs. I wonder if you could do the “cracked ice” look using a CNC. I bet it would take quite a bit of time to mill.
Joe
August 4th, 2010 at 7:52 PM
oooh, i love the vanity and desk. it really is a good sized panel to feature the cracked ice pattern. i’ve always loved that pattern.
August 4th, 2010 at 8:05 PM
I agree. There is just something at once both esoteric and serene about a design like this.
August 17th, 2010 at 2:14 AM
First and foremost thank you for the interest in our designs.
Katsuyo, your concern is valid and honourable. In fact we are a kind of cooperative. Our Indonesian partner is someone we have known since he was 12. His father used to be one of our suppliers. The father died about 18 years ago and before he passed away he asked us to set up something with his son. Our solution is that Mamat remained independant rather than salaried. He sets all the prices and we do a standard mark up. He works with a network of artisans who are specialised in certain crafts. They are independant and fix their own prices. In a sense it is a system of communal anarchy. Independant people working together in a community.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:29 PM
That sounds like you have a great setup Elizabeth. As an artisan myself I love to see that my fellow artisans are treated right. Thank you!
Joe